.Lawyer in prominent Chechnya cases slain in Moscow
MOSCOW (AP) - A lawyer who had opposed the early release of a Russian colonel convicted of killing a Chechen woman was shot and killed after a press conference in central Moscow on Monday, officials said.
A journalist also was wounded in the attack by an unknown gunman, who escaped after shooting lawyer Stanislav Markelov, officials said.
Markelov had told reporters he may file an international court appeal against the early release of Col. Yuri Budanov from prison last week, according to the RIA-Novosti news agency.
Markelov had also represented slain Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who had written extensively about human rights violations in Chechnya. In addition, he worked for activists who battled abuses by Russia's military, and represented a Chechen woman who was a victim in a 2002 hostage-taking attack on a Moscow theater.
Markelov was gunned down near a central Moscow building where he had just finished the news conference, according to Viktoria Tsyplenkova, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office Investigative Committee.
The deputy editor of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Andrei Lipsky, said freelancer Anastasia Baburova was hit when she tried to intervene after Markelov was shot. She was taken to a hospital and Lipsky said he did not know her condition.
Budanov was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 10 years for murdering 18-year-old Heda Kungayeva by strangling her after believing she was a rebel sniper. His case had been closely watched as a test of authorities' determination to deal with rights abuses in Chechnya.
MyWay
A journalist also was wounded in the attack by an unknown gunman, who escaped after shooting lawyer Stanislav Markelov, officials said.
Markelov had told reporters he may file an international court appeal against the early release of Col. Yuri Budanov from prison last week, according to the RIA-Novosti news agency.
Markelov had also represented slain Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who had written extensively about human rights violations in Chechnya. In addition, he worked for activists who battled abuses by Russia's military, and represented a Chechen woman who was a victim in a 2002 hostage-taking attack on a Moscow theater.
Markelov was gunned down near a central Moscow building where he had just finished the news conference, according to Viktoria Tsyplenkova, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office Investigative Committee.
The deputy editor of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Andrei Lipsky, said freelancer Anastasia Baburova was hit when she tried to intervene after Markelov was shot. She was taken to a hospital and Lipsky said he did not know her condition.
Budanov was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 10 years for murdering 18-year-old Heda Kungayeva by strangling her after believing she was a rebel sniper. His case had been closely watched as a test of authorities' determination to deal with rights abuses in Chechnya.
MyWay
posted by madtom at 10:59 AM
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